As the US election began to rapidly slip away from Kamala Harris, it became clear that the presidential candidate wasn’t going to speak at her election night rally in Washington D.C.

That’s when people started slipping out of the event, including Dr Emma Shortis.

Donald Trump is projected to win not just the presidency, but also the popular vote.

Today, senior researcher at The Australia Institute Dr Emma Shortis on Donald Trump’s projected return to the White House, and what it means for the future of the Democratic Party.

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Guest: Senior researcher at The Australia Institute, Dr Emma Shortis

On the eve of the American election, polls say Harris and Trump are neck and neck. Of course, Donald Trump says that’s not true.

It’s nothing new for the former president to deny facts. What is new is the way America’s biggest cable news network is handling it: Fox News has started cutting away from rallies when Trump lies.

The network’s support of the big lie – that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, led to a defamation lawsuit that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to settle. And now the Murdoch broadcaster is in a tricky spot: tell MAGA supporters what they want to hear, even if it isn’t true, or risk losing a huge audience. 

So what does Fox do if Trump loses this election, and refuses to admit it?

Today, author of The Successor and host of Rupert: The last mogul Paddy Manning on Fox’s role in the US election and how the Murdochs’ secret court case could shape the future of democracy.

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Guest: Author of The Successor and host of Rupert: The last mogul Paddy Manning

One of the first things David Crisafulli did when he became premier of Queensland was order the state’s Truth-telling inquiry to stop immediately.

The Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry, which launched earlier this year, was examining the impacts of colonisation on First Nations people. Work was underway, with witnesses already having testified about racial discrimination and abuse. 

The premier gave the order to stop in a press conference, without talking first to the man running the process.

Today, Chairman of The Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry Joshua Creamer on David Crisafulli’s decision and the truth that will never be heard. 

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Guest: Chairman of The Truth-telling and Healing Inquiry Joshua Creamer

The prime minister’s relationship with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, and whether he likes a free upgrade, has been the talk of Canberra, prompted by the publication of a new book called The Chairman’s Lounge.

Speculation about what the book would reveal had been swirling for months, and it was widely known in political circles that some of it would be bad for the prime minister.

But when the book was finally published, Albanese and his office seemed unprepared.

The saga, which played out over a week, and entangled politicians from both major parties, raises questions about how much our leaders love a freebie – and whether the prime minister in particular has lost touch with voters’ expectations.

Today, special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis on The Chairman’s Lounge and whether it matters if politicians get a fancy drink in a fancy chair.

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Guest: Special correspondent for The Saturday Paper Jason Koutsoukis

In just three books Robbie Arnott has established himself as a writer to trust. Flames (2018), The Rain Heron (2022) and Limberlost (2022) were all rapturously reviewed and garnered a hefty swag of award nominations and wins. On this episode of Read This, Michael Williams sits down with Robbie to discuss his new novel, Dusk, which explores loss, redemption, and survival in Tasmania’s high country.

On a street in downtown Beirut there’s a five-storey building – a derelict hotel.

It was empty for years, until recently, when hundreds of displaced people started arriving.

Their experience of fleeing southern Beirut to find safety in the city’s busy neighbourhoods is being repeated across Lebanon right now as Israel’s bombardments continue.

There has been a massive effort to help shelter the one million displaced Lebanese, but in this building and in many others they aren’t always welcome, with religious divides from the civil war still palpable, decades on.

Today, journalist Heidi Pett on the old wounds being re-opened in Lebanon.

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Guest: Journalist Heidi Pett

When the Royal Commission into the Robodebt Scheme handed down its findings, the commissioner in charge went to great lengths to refer six individuals to the National Anti-Corruption Commission for investigation.

What followed outraged many, particularly the victims of the scheme: The NACC announced that it would not act on the referrals.

That decision generated so many complaints that it has since been investigated by the inspector of the NACC, Gail Furness.

Now, that investigation has found that not only should the decision be revisited, but the head of the NACC himself engaged in “officer misconduct”.

Today, senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton, on what this means for the integrity of Australia’s corruption watchdog.

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Guest: Senior reporter for The Saturday Paper, Rick Morton.

In a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York, just over a week from the election, Donald Trump took to the stage with a vision for the first day of his presidency.

Trump is promising to deport more than 11 million people if he wins, making it “the largest deportation program in American history”.

Immigration has been one of the most pressing and divisive issues of the presidential race, with fears of “border chaos” and misinformation about immigrants eating pets dominating headlines.

But the facts about immigration tell a different story. 

Today, investigative reporter for ProPublica Mica Rosenberg, on the real ways immigration is affecting America.

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Guest: Investigative reporter for ProPublica Mica Rosenberg

When West Australian mining billionaire Chris Ellison was accused of a decade of tax evasion, his lawyers responded by trying to cut a deal with the Australian Taxation Office. 

The terms of that deal included an 80 per cent reduction in the penalty payable and an assurance that his conduct wouldn’t be referred to police or the corporate watchdog. 

The reason that Ellison, managing director of the company Mineral Resources, would push for those terms is obvious. The real question is why the tax office would agree to it. 

Today, national correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe, on how the ATO protects the rich. 

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Guest: National correspondent for The Saturday Paper Mike Seccombe

When Elon Musk took the stage at a pro-Trump rally in Pennsylvania to announce he would start giving a million dollars a day to randomly chosen people who had signed an online petition, it begged the question, is this legal?

To win, people had to be registered to vote in one of the seven key battleground states and have signed the petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments, which guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. 

The stunt attracted huge publicity, but for Musk these million dollar cheques are just the tip of the iceberg.

Investigative journalist for the Wall Street Journal Dana Mattioli has uncovered years of secret donations by Musk that upend the idea that he’s a recent entrant into Trump’s orbit.

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Guest: Wall Street Journal reporter Dana Mattioli